Send in the CLONES!
by darkerdeepdown
Summary: Naruto is known for the shadow clone jutsu.  It creates solid copies that can interact in the world just as well as their creator.  Now that jutsu is taken for a spin in a new direction.
1. Like a Boss!

This was a little brain fart that occurred when studying for my Final Exams. I took a break and read a little bit and found myself thinking back to my Psych book I had previously been reading and wondered something. Why is the shadow clone such a jutsu that can be pulled off so easily without any real depth to the technique itself? So here is the result of such a brain fart.

X-X-X-X-X

'_Safe to land… adjust angle… veer right…'_

Naruto leapt through the forest as he adjusted the cord strap of the huge scroll he carried. The Forbidden Scroll of Secrets was surprisingly not that hard to get into. One would think that after the Raijin Incident a few years ago that the village would have kept a closer eye on its treasures, but this lapse in security (which Naruto took advantage of vigorously and often) allowed him to pass this final test set up by his now favorite teacher Mizuki.

He made his last leap with a flourish, and expected to land as gracefully. Sadly he didn't compensate for the added weight of reinforced animal leather bound upon itself a multitude of times and held together by a cedar pole core. Long story short, his feet slipped out beneath him and his face got reacquainted with the loam soil around this abandoned shack.

Spitting out some ill-tasting dirt, which to his revulsion contained half a worm, and rinsing his face and mouth out with a canteen he kept on him, he proceeded to roll out the scroll to see which jutsu he would learn to graduate.

'_Hm, Konoha Security Seals, Safe Houses, Agent aliases, High profile dossier. Dang, this scroll has some real high clearance crap on it. Makes one wonder how I even got to see this thing without being ganked on the spot.' _He unrolled it further until he passed the first thing that said something he was familiar with. _'Ha! Here we are! Jutsu come to daddy! Alright, Taijutsu secret techniques… Nah! Genjutsu, Hell no! Elemental jutsu… aint got time to learn. Non-Elemental jutsu… sure.'_

He scrolled through the entries and a few sparked his interest. _'Ok, so I'm down to Clones since this is what I suck at the most. Solid Clone, A-rank, high chakra input with basic control, sneaking and espionage and training, yadda yadda. Writing it down for later. Blood clone? Strange name. S-rank, already a big plus, medium chakra input with basic control, creates living breathing copy of oneself from small sample of blood. Ew, but it said it's good for people to fake a death then strike later. Writing that too. Now this last on, Shadow Clone. What's this, a warning label? Caution, causes splintering of personality, generally used for clinical psychological practices in repression. Developed by Kage Nara when making adjustments to solid clone. Splinters body and mind into id, ego, superego trifecta. Combat effectiveness has not been tested nor advised for those of weak willed. Ha! Just because you called me weak, I'm gonna write that down too! But back to the solid one, that will let me pass!'_

X-X-X-X-X

And so it did, but not for the reasons he believed. After a brief skirmish with his now _least_ favorite sensei, he had been awarded a headband by his already favorite sensei.

After that, he had a visit with his favorite Jiji to explain the sitch. The boss-man was a little miffed about how a child and gotten away with breaking in, stealing, and escaping with one Konoha's coveted possession's from the vault in the Hokage Monument, AGAIN! He was contemplating adjusting the basis of information his underlings had just so that this wouldn't be habit. But, he did have to admit that this was mostly him allowing the security to lax in such peaceful times. He let the little punk go on a warning that he was a ninja now and should be acting like a mature teenager at the very least.

Naruto had nodded and acted very professional, at least in his book, and made off to his apartment for some needed shut eye. Sadly, once he actually got off the adrenaline rush that had been pumping all night, he found sleep to be impossible, his mind much too busy breaking down the entire night and the implications of the truth in which he was now enlightened to.

"If there is something I learned from Mizuki today, it was the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction," He mused out loud to himself as he sat in his bed staring at the ceiling, hoping the answers would just materialize like in some movie or really bad manga. He couldn't really make sense of anything in his head, thoughts jumbling together and experiences rushing forth to the front of his mind, reminding him of his less than stellar upbringing.

"Can't sleep," he stated, "might as well train."

He hopped off his bed, and walked out into the early morning sunshine. He meandered to his favorite training spot by the academy and brushed up on his skills. Sadly, they were still sub-par to what he would need to be now that he had an actual job. He could throw mind you, just not with multiple projectiles and he needed half a second to aim just right. His practicing with the leaf floating exercise still just plain sucked, and could still be beaten in a fist fight. But he was going to have a sensei so that would mean that he would be taught personally, right? Right?

He ignored his depressing mental flow and drowned himself in training once more. He may suck, but he felt good while training himself; he was working towards a goal and was determined to achieve it. It gave him the resolve to keep training.

It was while he was doing suspended crunches, utilizing a nearby pole, something dropped from his butt pouch. He looked down and noticed the notes he wrote about the clones he learned. He finished his set, and righted himself before dropping down. He looked it over and decided to review what he had chosen, forgetting everything he had read in the ensuing chaos. He reread the solid clone one and actually read the entire entry. When he noticed the sentence that said _how _it was a training aide, he immediately jumped up and made a crap-load of clones, shunting quite a bit of chakra into it. When countless clones popped into existence, they all ran to work on chakra control.

Pleased with his new work ethic, he checked on the next one. The blood clone was pretty complex and if the user didn't quite understand how to do it, he would need to be or get help from one who experienced with seals. Naruto grumbled at this, finding out that he entirely lacked in that department, and he would need to have friends before he would have allies to help in his training. In the end, he put that one on hold as he checked out the final entry, and the supposedly volatile contents inscribed. He hadn't written the warning label, just the info and the hand signs on how to mold the chakra.

Now a funny fact about Naruto is that he is honestly quite misinformed on how chakra works. He knows how it feels and how it _can_ be molded, but he can't really follow how it was explained, and with no one to really reference with, he kind of makes loopholes around jutsu. His transformation is just that, a transformation in which where others create the illusion that that they look like their intended target by bending the light around them in a smokescreen to conceal the action, Naruto thought that he needed to make a shell around himself to actually make a new body. This even applies with the clouds of his… inventive jutsu. Strangely enough, this concept was beneficial for Naruto in learning the solid clone jutsu since it was just that just for another body. He accidently found a way to get around the whole "chakra getting split evenly" thing, but while getting the accumulated information he doesn't receive the wasted chakra back.

So when he was told that his mind was split, into three parts, he had no idea what the term id, ego, or superego meant, so he summarized it as like splitting his emotions up like in that teen titans manga with that Raven chick. So he conjured up the image of a basic emotion, in this case he chose his inner Casanova and pooled chakra into it.

What came out wasn't exactly what he had planned.

X-X-X-X-X

Well here's to another brain fart of a story when I should be doing more socially important things.

Cheers Lads!


	2. Too Much Time

Clone chap 2

And thus the weekend came and went. Monday came along and inside a lecture hall, this year's graduates of the shinobi military training program conversed with one another (those that didn't find it too 'troublesome' that is) about their immediate and glorious future. Many spoke about how they are going to be worthy of mention in history books and others of how they are going to have the future of their dreams or some nonsense of that such, ignorant of their impending future of mediocrity and/or debilitating pain that comes with the occupation.

That is until one orange clad individual sauntered in with an air of pride and purpose. This immediately silenced any and all conversation in the room and he was met with scowls or confusion.

"Oi, Loser! Get outa' 'ere! This is for those who can go places in life, not dead-lasts that will die before they even leave their homes!" one student rudely exclaimed, his canine companion enforcing this with a slight growl.

The blonde merely turned toward the inarticulate fool who dares to even demean his very existence with his with such horrid diction. He calmed his anger, deigning it detrimental to the mission his commander had set forth, the lovable idiot he was.

Putting forth the most fake smile he could and forced such jubilation that it almost made him gag. "Why don't you look at the big, shiny metal thingy that you obviously don't care to notice, and shut your fur ridden mouth, mutt." He made his way toward the only chair available, which just happened to be next to the one who was the bane of his (and quite a few other's) existence.

The brooding fool only spared him a glance before a superior grin and turned away toward the window. The blonde could honestly not give two feces about the brunette pretty-boy opinion, but his ballet dismissal was beginning to wear upon his nerves. His personal rumination was interrupted by a distant roar, akin to that of a stampeding herd making its way through the learning establishment. It drew close to his current room and wracked his brain for possible scenarios. When the concept of battle occurred to him, his body tensed up, and he began to take mental stock his weaponry. Dismayed at his current lack, he made a mental note to better equip himself, no matter the equation. This thought seemed to slowly disappear before vanishing altogether from his mind, followed by it mysteriously reappearing.

He was slightly caught off guard when two females rampaged into the room, followed by a round of shouting that further irked his already irritated mood. Granted, they were attractive in their own way, but he immediately filed them into the 'ignore at all cost' drawer and stared straight ahead. This, he was sure, was going to be a long day.

"Move out of the way, Naruto!"

He deftly deflected a fist that was going to impact him, and turned the aggravator on their heel. He turned to see one of the wild beasts, the one with a peculiar shade of pink hair, and noticed her astonished body language from how her shoulders were set and the sudden tension in the muscles on her back. She finally turned around after a brief period, and fury of a most foul nature was directed on his person.

He knew not why this person had decided that he was worth her anger, but decided that to further exacerbate would be most imprudent.

"Ask me nicely."

The shock spread on the faces of his supposed peers had lead him to wonder if he had broken some social norm by demanding some common courtesy. Strange.

Her face twisted in some form of confusion, but a quick peek at his desk-mate solidified some resolve inside her. She turned to him with self-righteousness being painfully obvious to anybody with a pair of eyes before rudely pointing out that he was some "dead-last" something or other and that he should... He honestly tried to follow but this farce had gone on long enough. He was tired, a little anxious, and craving some comfort food, godamnit.

"Now I'm going to have to stop you right there. According to your argument, since even though I came her first and there is a perfectly acceptable seat right over there," he gestured toward a seat next to the uncouth fool from earlier, "I should just allow you to strike me whenever you please only because you wish to have this seat since it just so happened to be the one next to the one you wish to court. Now, I may acknowledge that I am not the most intelligent entity in this room, but even I can see that that line of thought is flawed, and honestly quite prejudiced. Am I not a fellow human being just because I am not the most proficient warrior amongst us?" he turned to some person on the row above him and asked, "Do you think that makes sense? No, of course not." he answered before allowing the child to respond. "Now I will ask only once more, would you kindly please ask me politely, or will you allow some misguided issues of pride keep you from being a mature and rational adult?"

The girl was once more thrown for a loop, and seemed to honestly ponder his argument. That is, until she strangely seemed to hear something before trying to brain him again.

He did the same as before, turning her around, and just stood up and walked away. His stubbornness screamed to keep up the challenge, but rationally knew that it was pointless to continue. So, he decided to just lean against the back wall, blocking the triumphant tirade the punk one was going on about.

Thankfully, his salvation came in his teacher and former instructor entering the room.

XxXxXxX

Iruka was still feeling the sting of his wounds days after the incident. His head didn't feel well either, especially since this annoying voice wouldn't stop talking about 'true love' and 'bakas.' So he did what he usually did to children that annoyed him. He yelled at them.

"SHUT UP!"

The ringing ceased immediately and he felt immense peace from the silence. He finally glanced at his students, former students he amended, and noticed that whole some carried looks of shock, and more than a few people were staring at the back wall.

He peered over the edge and noticed Naruto was leaning against it, looking none too pleased at something.

"Naruto, would you mind sitting?"

"Is it permissible if I stood, sir?"

Iruka was kind of confused at first, but chalked it up to him finally growing up. "Uh, yeah sure. Moving on!" He began to give his final lecture, attempting to both bolster their confidence while trying one last attempt at giving them a realistic view if the world. It fell on deaf ears, just like always, but it would wear on his conscience if he didn't try.

"Now I am going to break you all into teams of three. These cells are going to be your teammates for quite a while, at least until all of you make chunin and lead teams of your own. You all are being assigned one jounin as your instructor and guide into the shinobi world. Here are the teams. Team one: ..."

And so on and so forth, they were each assigned teams. Naruto noticed that while some had pretty clear functions, others were obviously thrown together due to their unremarkable skills. He noticed that those who were from notorious clans didn't get called till later. He distantly heard his name being called alongside the 'brooding one' and 'she with pink hair'. He was slightly fearful for his life, but in the end decided that he should at least wait to see his jounin. As one by one each team was led out by their respective senseis, the room was left with only him and his 'team.' After waiting one hour, he was pondering if this was some sort of test his sensei was conducting, gauging his students before actually meeting them. After two hours had passed, he began to wonder if this was some kind of joke. When a face finally popped out of the door, he had to physically restrain his hand from tossing something pointy at it.

"Howdy! I apologize for my tardiness, I just got back from a mission and I hope to not make this a habit in the future." the head stated in honest regret as he walked into the room.

He was tall, if not freakishly so. He was just short of seven foot, with a quite strong build. His face had tiny scars, no more than nicks barely visible amongst his unshaven, strong chin. His eyes were a solid blue with thick eyebrows and rather large nose. His grin was lopsided and his teeth were straight and mostly white. His attire consisted of a jounin vest over chain male, with wire mesh spreading out beneath that. His pants were standard issue with extra holsters on his both thighs and shins. Overall, he seemed to be not the stealthiest type but could handle himself in a fight.

"Let's introduce ourselves. I guess I'll go first. I am Tomoyo Higurashi. I specialize in bodyguard missions, demolition, and search and destroy. I like smithing, my daughter, and a good fight. I dislike going on stealth missions, vegetables, and any boy who thinks they have a chance to court my daughter. My hobbies are my second job at your local blacksmith and collecting weapons. My dream is to either collect all seven mist swordsman blades or to craft a blade that outshines all of them. Okay, um, little miss your next."

She stood up and bowed before beginning her introduction. "Greetings sensei, I am Sakura Haruno. I like, um... I dislike Ino-bunta and Naruto-baka. My hobbies are reading and tending to my hair. And my dream is..." and with this she broke into a fit of giggles. Tomoyo, to his credit, wanted to sigh in disappointment. Sadly, not everyone could be as dedicated as his daughter.

"Moving on, Uchiha-san?"

The boy didn't even flinch when he heard his name, only speaking through his fists. "Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like anything, and I dislike many things. I have no hobbies and I don't have a dream, only an ambition. It is to find a certain man, and to kill him."

Silence reigned for a while after his terse speech. Tomoyo took a tiny step in the general direction away from the boy. _I might just get Inoichi-sama to visit this one_. "You there, the one on the wall. Would you like to go next?"

Naruto stood up off the wall and cleared his throat. "Hello, my name is I-ahem-Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, the color orange, and training. I dislike vegetables as well, while I tolerate fruits that taste sweet, and people that can't just be logical about situations. My hobbies are pulling practical jokes, gardening, and training. My dream is to be strong enough to be Hokage someday." He bowed once before leaning against the wall once again. Tomoyo only nodded and smirked a bit. _Good head on his shoulder, this one. Might have to check up on him though. Need to see how he is taking his burden after a weekend to come to terms with it._

"Good, now that that's over, let's disband for the day and pick up tomorrow on peach street and eighth." as the children began to head out, he noticed that the blonde had yet to move from his spot. "Um, is there something you need?"

Naruto stood up from the wall and made his way to the large individual, stopping once he stood before him. "Actually Higurashi-sensei, there is. I would ask that I take a moment of your time to show something to you something you should be made aware of. I ask that you follow me." The boy then sauntered out of the room, more dignified than the man would have attributed to a boy his age.

Shrugging, the giant dipped past the door and followed the enigmatic blonde.

XxXxXxX

As Tomoyo was lead toward the less affluent part of town, he began to really wonder what was going on. The child before him was nothing like the dossier he had received when Kakashi handmade clear that he would not lead this team, stating that his time would be more prudent still in ANBU. He was not expecting to have to be a sensei since he was not on the list, but being the closest person at hand and...

What was he talking about again?

Oh yeah, the kid. His dossier said he was rude, blunt, and an all-round fool. What he saw was an eloquent, level-headed soldier ready for battle.

When they came upon an apartment complex, that didn't have many residents from what he could see, his guide went up a flight of stairs and turned toward a door. Once he went opened the door a crack, he immediately closed it and turned toward his sensei with apprehension.

"Know that what you are going to see is real and that you give us time to explain." he turned toward the door and ushered the man inside.

His only thought was along the lines of, _'Wait, us?'_

"hey/wazzah/hello/sup/hi"

XxXxXxX

(A/N) Well Naruto, what did you do this time. Thanks for reading this fic. I wrote it all on my smart phone so I apologize for any and all typos and for the shortish length. For those of you who can guess what happened first, I may just add any oc you have or take any suggestions. But to qualify, you gotta give me at least a few sentences about how I'm doing and what I could do better. Than


	3. Not enough Brains

**Greetings and salutations from the Land of Semi-Insanity! I am King DDD to deliver my proclamation of a new chapter after a long Hiatus of doing absolutely nothing! Huzzah!**

**This new chapter shall broadcast our new talent and channel sheer awesomeness into a legible form of literary genius!**

***sighs* That felt good. For those still reading, ignore the above and know that I have been going through a most trying time and that I plan to continue where I left off on a new leaf. Now without further ado, I give you another chapter of SEND IN THE CLONES!**

**XxXxXxX**

(Naruto's Apartment)

To Tomoyo's credit, he did try to rationalize what he saw into the realms of the rational thinking mind. Sadly he wasn't informed of one tiny, itty bitty, teensy weensy, infinitesimal factor.

He was dealing with Naruto. One might as well toss out all rationale and burn your copy of the Laws of Physics when it comes to this kid.

Before him stood five variations of the same kid all looking nervously at him. It looked like someone had taken a color pallet and dyed the same kid, jumpsuit included, a different primary and secondary color. He registered a popping sound next to him and numbly watched another one enter the picture. The small apartment was seeming split into five sections, each with a Technicolor munchkin doing something different and strangely unique to each copy.

One was red and had a wild look to him with maroon eyes and an orange tint to his hair. His burnt red jumpsuit looked thinner and had a more casual, sporty look with black accents and the same white collar. He was chewing on what looked like a toothpick as he did pull ups on a bar that was situated in a section of the room that was obviously his in a back corner with a bean bag and a bunch of weights.

A purple shape was leafing through a novel and his straight purple hair almost hid amethyst eyes as they scoured through a novel he held and sighed wistfully as he looked up and seemingly imagined what he read, his lavender suit almost stretched over his enlarged frame, his thick hands deftly turning the page before smiling dreamily and relaxing on another bean bag, this one surrounded by storybooks and novels.

The one that was next to Tomoyo walked over to the feral looking one and his sapphire blue eyes looked with concern towards his copy and navy colored hair seemed to be longer than the others and was much smoother as it flowed behind him. His cobalt blue jumpsuit looked more upper class than the others, more like a suit then casual wear and he seemed to walk with a natural ease, his gait displaying grace and even a sense of presence, like one before a noble or businessman. Tomoyo looked over for a blue section and saw it occupied a small mat and a section of a desk that looked nice and neat with what looked like the mail and a certificate of making genin and a chair neatly tucked in.

Another was sitting in a small section leaning against the wall. He was kind of unnerving by the way he stared at everything oddly with electric green eyes and the way his sea foam green hair kept swishing as if an erratic breeze was blowing through it kind of unnerved him. It could also be that his grass green jacket was secured in way akin to a straightjacket for a mental ward patient. The sharp toothed smile wasn't exactly helping his image. His little section was littered with chew toys and a doggie bed that looked like it went through a wood chipper.

A noise of frustration turned his attention to a _girl_ dressed in a yellow lab coat and yellow slacks as she stared intently at some mixture that wasn't apparently doing as she hoped if the glare her lightning yellow eyes partially hidden behind long sunshine colored hair (that seemed to spark occasionally) were giving toward a beaker on the other half of the desk was anything to go by. Her section was a mess of handwritten notes and a few science experiments that seemed to have gone horribly wrong if the explosion residue and smudges on her face was anything to go by.

As I said before, Tomoyo tried so very hard to comprehend, but sadly no rational answers were coming to him. He stared dumbly as the blue one came back to him and said something. When blue boy seemed to not get any response, he swished his hand in front of the immense man and snapped his fingers. When again, no response was given, he hailed the yellow one and pointed towards him and said something. The yellow one was there in an instant and proceeded to point a finger at him and a small streak of lightning jumped from her finger and entered his body, shocking him into awareness once again. After regaining his senses, he covered his face with his hand and took a deep breath.

"Dare I ask what is going on?" Tomoyo groaned, already exhausted from his mad sprint from his mission and he wanted nothing more than to drink a nice cold, alcoholic beverage and beat molten metal into beautiful shapes.

The yellow one giggled before skulking back to her experiment gone awry and mumbled something that Tomoyo couldn't hear as she wrote more notes. The blue boy sighed before he looked at the jounin and said, "Follow me."

Blue led Tomoyo deeper into this colossal cluster fuck as Red smirked as he finished his reps and dropped from the bar and began curling his weights. Green followed him with his eyes but stayed utterly still and began to chuckle. Purple spared only a passing glance before he rolled over and continued reading his book.

He was lead into the sole bedroom of the apartment and what he saw almost scared him. Naruto Uzumaki was in a chair seemingly asleep, his jumpsuit of vibrant orange and deep blue contrasted his haggard and sunk in frame. His breaths came out in light amounts and his face seemed weak and without and muscle definition. A second after Blue came and gently nudged him awake, Naruto tuned colorless eyes towards the jounin and smiled weakly.

"Hey, sorry if I don't stand and shake your hand, but I'm kinda tired. Bet you are wondering what is going on, and if you take a seat and Aoi decides to aid me once again, I will be glad to explain the situation."

The jounin had seen many things but this would rank pretty high in his "I have seen some strange shit" list once he finished his visit at casa de Uzumaki.

XxXxXxX

Blue boy, aptly named Aoi, walked over to the weak boy and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure you are up to this? I don't mind explaining in your stead if you are feeling too weak." Aoi gently urges the blonde as he looks on the blond in concern.

"Nah, I just need to borrow you for a second and then that's all."

Aoi nods in understanding before suddenly he begins to shine and enters the weak boy's body. Suddenly vitality seems to return to the boy as his eyes flood with a deep blue tint and he stands and stretches his stiff muscles. "Ah, feels good to have some strength again." He stands and does a few stretches before he relaxes into his seat once again, "Now to your explanation. Firstly, yes I am the real Naruto. Secondly, no you aren't being punk'd or going insane. Lastly, what you are seeing is me abusing a jutsu I knew barely anything about and reaping the consequences. Are you familiar with the Kage Bunshin, or the Shadow Clone?"

Tomoyo stayed silent and shook his head in the negative.

"Well apparently it was an accidental jutsu that a Nara and a Yamanaka came across and basically it just brings ones internal struggles into physical form and allows one to cope with many psychological or life controlling issues apparently. It basically separates the user's mind, if done the orthodox way, into the id, the ego, and the superego. Honestly it's kind of useless since it really didn't solve much but the potential to do something of this caliber lead the Hokage at the time to make it a forbidden jutsu and no one used it again since it was impractical in battle." Naruto chuckles at this point, finding something amusing, "Had I known that, I would never have tried to use it and left it to be forgotten somewhere around here. Sadly, I used it without comprehending the mechanics and tried my hand at it anyway. Needless to say it fractured my mind into five individuals whom seem to have taken an aspect about me and expounded upon it. You saw Aoi and his performance just now. They seem to be able to assimilate with me again but only Aoi is willing to do so outside of us going on missions and training apparently, even then some have misgivings. If I seem overly calm and collected, contrary to my dossier, it's because I am assimilated with Aoi whom apparently received my calm and diplomatic aspects, surprised I even had them, and no once we assimilate, we are one person, but I can feel his intents and he can leave my body anytime I wish. An unfortunate side-effect of my hasty stupidity in attempting this jutsu is that I am virtually an invalid once they all leave me, plus I feel numb as all hell to any and all things. Not fun."

Tomoyo scrunched his eyes shut and wiped his face. "Does the Hokage know about this… Accident?"

"Yes," he replied while nodding, "He was informed the moment I, or should I say we, were able to. He came and royally chewed us out and was the one whom got the others to agree to the training/missions thing. We spent this entire weekend testing everything out and it seems that the others have equal portions of my large chakra and I am left with enough to live and barely function, as you saw before. Don't worry," he said as he interrupted his sensei's comment, "they will more often than not be assimilated in me from now on; they just wanted one last day to stretch their legs before we all try to work together as one unit. Or in the case of Midori, creep everyone out to high hell before he has to be stuck in a sane body. More often than not Aoi will always be within me to keep me functional and productive as he seems to be more inclined to help then the others and be self-sacrificing. Honestly though, it's because he's a boring guy with nothing better to do."

He sniggers before his hand slaps his own face, "WHAT! It's true and you know it!"

Said appendage seemed to slowly turn into a fist.

"I'll be good," Naruto squeaks.

Tomoyo heaves a sigh and nods his head in comprehension before he stands up and begins pacing to figure out how to cope with this new BIG dynamic to the team. "So bottom line is that you are now a liability to the team and yourself?"

Naruto paled and tried to defend himself before Tomoyo held up his hand to cease the coming barrage of excuses. "No excuses, unless you can reign in your… aspects, we are not taking any missions and I am tempted to just flunk your team now unless you can explain to me the benefits, if any of this insane scenario."

Naruto calmed down and picked up a list off the bed next to him with a coherent pros and cons with a few bullets under each. "I have already gone over the drawbacks as I wished to inform you of the severity of this situation firstly but I can assure you that there are some good points in return." His eyes took on a glint of controlled glee and continued to extrapolate the good points. "First and foremost, a strange thing I accidently did is created five people with an extraordinary control over each of the five elements. Separate from me they can manipulate an element to a certain extent and have my chakra pools to do some awesome medium level jutsus with ease. All together we are capable of creating a combined me with a good grasp of the dominant aspect's element with our combined pools and can do some pretty boss things without breaking a sweat, as well as being capable of doing crap loads of Solid Clones to back it up. Another funny thing is that I can have a pretty good grasp of what every aspect is doing and thinking apart from me. Like Kiiro (Yellow) is currently working on a good substitute for smokescreen that will not only cover our tracks but also have mace laced in the mix to blind and debilitate the target. Akai (Red) is trying to get every last rep in before he has to "take a break" as he calls our assimilation. Midori (Green) is just being insane and rambling about something or another, cookies and how they relate to the end of civilization as we know it. Murasaki (Purple) is daydreaming about his future love and hot the hero in his book doesn't appreciate the main female role," he leans in and whispers, "Between you and me, he's big but he is just a huge romantic pussy. Don't make him angry though, he may be a push over, but his punches pack a wallop and his control of earth is pretty gnarly. Finally we have my best buddy Aoi, say hi Aoi," the hand rises and waves at Tomoyo, "who is wondering when my long winded speech is going to end so that we can get to the bills we have been neglecting to pay and get to restocking the fridge."

Naruto scratches behind his head and chuckles nervously, "So what do you think? Is that enough to keep me on the team?" He stares at his superior officer and sensei with hope and a small bit of desperation, obviously not wanting to be left by the wayside after doing something as stupid as this.

Tomoyo honestly had to consider keeping him on the team. So many factors could go wrong if he wasn't careful about how to go about this. Then he remembered that Hokage-sama had come and evaluated the boy and hadn't taken him off the roster so that had to mean something, right? "is it possible to reverse this jutsu?" he asked dubiously.

Naruto sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Jiji has some high level people looking into that and if it is possible they are trying to either reverse it all together or allow me a little more control so that I don't end up dead just because somebody doesn't want to sit in the back seat."

"Alright, but what about… our foxy friend?"

Naruto lifted his shirt and focused chakra into his seal. The bold, black lines instantly appeared and showed no signs of altercation. "Sealed tighter than the new Konoha Vault that was recently installed for some _obvious_ reasons. Each aspect has the same seal even though the fox is entirely sealed in me. Jiji thinks that at some point if I can keep training in certain things, not sure what things he meant but I assume in harnessing Kyuubi's chakra, I may be able to act independently of the other aspects and be able to work separately as individual agents. Until then, I will more than likely rely on Aoi if all else fails."

Tomoyo groans in resignation and shrugs, "I guess you can stay on the team but I will be keeping my eye on you, understand?"

"Hai!"

Tomoyo heads toward the door and heads out of the apartment and heads towards home and to take some aspirin for the headache he was given do to information overload and gets ready for tomorrow's test.

Naruto stood up and heads out the room to find each aspect doing something or another and decides to have some fun. "We made it everyone! We are finally going to be ninjas! Woohoo! Who's up for some Ramen!?"

"Sounds good Captain!" Akai yelled in agreement.

Murasaki moaned in pleasure as the thought of delicious foods floated in his mind, "Mmm, that sounds good master, I could go for some food."

Kiiro groaned as another experiment failed, "Sure, boss, I could go for a pick me up." She tied up her hair and put away her experiment until later.

Midori exclaimed, "YAY, finally no more Walkie-Talkie! The reader was getting Bored and the Author was beginning to get a cramp in his hand from all the Double Fudge Oreos we were Making! Onwards my liege, to self-named goodness and French Fries!"

Everyone just stared at Midori for a minute before they all just shook their heads. One by one they began to glow before the all assimilated into Naruto's form. Invigorated after having a complete mind again, he made his way to the best place on Earth besides anywhere he walked on, Ichiraku Ramen!

XxXxXxX

**Well there you go, bunch of talking and explanation and some back story for what may come!**


	4. Break it down Blacksmith!

**Howdy howdy howdy**

**Good to know that there are some who are favoriting and following my stories but this DDD would also ask for some reviews to enhance my sheer awesomeness to Kamina levels! For this Story shall write towards the HEAVENS! B. , this one should be a little less serious but it's just how I write sadly. X( I desire to be more humorous but this just writes itself! Now on wit the showz!**

"_Naruto"_

'_Aoi'_

_Murasaki_

"**Akai"**

'**MIDORI**_**!'**_

**Kiiro**

"_**summons/Kyuubi"**_

'_**Jutsu"**_

**XxXxXxX**

Naruto awoke to the sound of the alarm clock he had set for this morning. His hand groped for the obnoxious offender to his blissful sleep and ceased its assigned function. He sat up and stretched his arms, feeling and hearing various areas in his back pop back into place. He stood up and looked out his window and barely saw the early signs of the sun about to rise before grumbling about it being too early to wake.

'_Sensei never did say when we were to meet him to its best to arrive early, see if he's there, and then do some early morning warm-ups if he's not,' _ a calm, diplomatic voice intoned from his psyche.

Naruto groaned before whining, "True, but you are literally the only one up Aoi, somehow everyone else is still passed out inside me because I can swear I can hear them snoring."

'_Such is your lot, sir' _he respectfully replied.

Naruto sighed and rubbed his eyes and looked himself in the mirror before doing his morning cleansing of brushing his teeth, showering in scent removing soap and shampoo, then putting on scent removing deodorant and then checking to see if any facial hair was coming in. He didn't comb his hair because the last time he even touched his hair with an implement of hair maintenance, i.e. comb, brush, scissors, … it ate them.

Shuddering at the horrifying memory, he went inside his room and got his clothing on but opted to leave the jacket unzipped since it was supposed to be hot today, at least by Konoha standards which meant it was going to be humid and it was going to suck.

He grabbed an orange on his way out before stopping by his table he kept by the door and put on his headband for the first time in a week. The metal was flat and the cloth was a little thick at first but as he pulled the straps around his head, he felt the metal bend till it was flush with his head and the cloth seemed to mold to his forehead and it felt like a comfortable cushion was wrapped around his head. It was nice and when Naruto looked himself in the mirror, he felt like he was finally making some leeway with his goals. Deciding now was a good time to experiment; he woke his head mates in true Naruto fashion.

"_WAKE UP!"_

Various grumblings erupted in his head and he made a roll-call to see if everyone was up.

_Of course we are up you idiot!_

**Too looooouuuud!**

"**Just for that I'm gonna make us work out all the harder and make you deal with the pain!"**

'**I CAN SEE THE RAINBOW!'**

Naruto grinned and chose to ignore Midori being Midori. "So why don't we do one last shift practice before we head out! Sounds good?" He only got grunts of agreement from them.

Naruto calmed down and felt himself slowly shift backwards, imagining his eyes as a big command seat (he used the Hokage's chair in front of the windows as a good illustration) and felt Aoi sit in it before he saw and felt a change overcome him. His hair took on a shade of blue and his eyes deepen in color before his clothing shifted to match the blue accents and go darker then that as his posture became straight and more dignified. "Paradigm Shift, complete" the calm voice of Aoi spoke from the transformed Naruto's lips, "We are getting quicker at this it seems."

"_That's just 'cause we are awesome like that!" _Naruto boasted before Aoi heard various amounts of pained noises come the boy.

"Is everything alright in there?" Aoi asked with a knowing smirk.

"**We're good!"**

Aoi shook his head before he stepped back and let Naruto come back to the forefront.

"Bastards, the whole lot of ya!" he exclaimed as he nursed phantom pains all along his body. He worked his way out of his apartment and locked the door before munching on his orange slices. He jumped his way from the building tops as he felt the cool moist air of the Hi no Kuni morning and the early sign of the villagers opening up shop. It was calm and quiet and honestly a good time to just enjoy the beauty of it all, but he headed towards the meet up point before he got distracted. It wasn't that far off, no more than a literal hop and a skip for a ninja. He landed deftly and tossed the excess peel into a trash bin outside the store, and store it was it seemed. "Higurashi Weapons and Smithy" was printed boldly and proudly with a shuriken over a kunai on each side and the name over an anvil.

H admired the sign in the early morning light before a sound by the doors gained his attention. He looked down and saw a girl around his age opening up shop. Her brown hair was done up in two small buns and what wasn't tied up framed her headband. She was wearing a sleeveless Chinese style top with the yellow cord holding it together and simple forest green pants with a few kunai and shuriken holster and dome scrolls along her belt line with a par of open sandals. She looked at Naruto and smiled warmly. "Welcome to Higurashi Weapons and Smithy. Would you like to come in?"

"Sure," Naruto shrugged and made his way in. He was welcomed into the store as the girl set up some signs out by the entrance and walked back in and went beside our dashing hero and looked at him.

"You wouldn't happen to be a part of my old man's new team would ya?"

"Yeah, I am," Naruto said boisterously. He offered his hand and introduced himself, "Naruto Uzumaki at your service! And you are?"

She smiled politely back and shook his hand and shook it, "Tenten." She gestured towards the door behind the shelves of various weapons as she commented, "Tou-san won't be down for a while, and I bet he didn't announce a time to meet up? He's like that with the tiny details even on missions, surprised he has survived as long as he has. Well, why don't you look at some weapons in the meantime, maybe stock up for the upcoming test he's more than likely got planned for ya."

Naruto nodded and thanked her as he went and did just that. Tenten made herself comfortable behind the counter before pulling a magazine with weapons on the front and the back. Naruto browsed their wares and was surprised at their seeming quality.

**Seems like these are some pretty high quality gear, I wonder if they make it all here or just custom orders?**

"**Don't know but this stuff looks awesome! Ooo look at that sword! Ooo look at that staff! I want all of it!"**

'_A weapon would be nice but it would be hard for all of us to pick one weapon and for all of us to like it, considering we know we each have different approaches to combat. Let's hold off on getting anything new till we can figure something out. Sound Good?'_

_I could care less; unless they have some stories or novels here I don't really think I would like it here._

'**WE demand sharp and pointy things!'**

Naruto just tuned them out as he kept looking around, passing the time conversing with his strange head mates and asking Tenten the occasional question about prices and quality and the like.

It was about an hour later when he saw Sasuke walk in and Sakura not too far behind. Sasuke barely gave Naruto a glance before they turned to Tenten and asked, "Where is Higurashi-sensei?"

"Working on a project that has to be finished today, but I think he will be here shortly" was Tenten's terse reply from behind her magazine.

Sasuke grunted in confirmation and started browsing himself. Sakura looked at all the tools nervously before looking back at the older kunoichi and nervously introduced herself and Sasuke while Tenten put her magazine down and introduced back politely. "So Tenten-san, I could tell you were a kunoichi from your headband but do you work here on your off days?"

Tenten smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I generally am here when I am not training with my team or when not off on a mission. Tou-san rarely ever mans the counter 'cause he just like doing the smithing in the back. When I'm not here, he has to put less time on his projects and it's not too good for business so I help out however I can. Plus I get free stuff on occasion so it's a definite plus. I am adept at Fuinjutsu plus I am dead accurate on my good days, but you can't help when you lose or break a tool on occasion."

"Wow so you must be quite good at weapons then?"

Tenten tried to smother a prideful smile but failed and announced, "Yep, I have at least a grasp of every weapon here, everything from swords, kunai, kusarigama, all the way to maces and clubs. If we sell it, I can beat you with it!"

"Wow," was Sakura's amazed response.

"What about you? What are you proficient at Sakura-san?"

Sakura got really self-conscience now and her body language spoke it. "I-I am not too sure. I'm smart but beyond that I wasn't really good at anything else."

Tenten looked at the poor girl and pitied her. She could understand not knowing what you wanted to specialize in but she had at least an idea of what she wanted to be like. When she first started off she wanted to be like Tsunade-sama but eventually realized the medicine wasn't her forte and she wasn't really capable of replicating her strength either. When she really applied what she knew with her father's teachings with weapons and the application of some Fuinjutsu she picked up from a scroll, everything started clicking in place by the time she graduated. "Well, beside your brain, what else are you good at? Think hard, was there anything else that you did much better than anyone else?"

Sakura contemplated over her past and tried to find a defining landmark before she found something that stood out. "I'm at least decent with my chakra control. I finished most of the Academy exercises first before anyone."

Naruto piped in his two cents, "Plus she can punch really hard!"

Naruto was sent flying into, luckily, and empty wall and slumped down in a daze.

Tenten tried to hold in her laughter but failed miserably and patted the irate Sakura's shoulder. "Looks like you might just go where I couldn't. I know that Med-nin as well as Genjutsu specialists need good chakra control and a working knowledge of the human body to be any good as well as maybe and with that nasty hook you just delivered, who knows, you could be next coming of Tsunade-sama!" The first part she meant as advice but while she said the latter part in jest, she looked and saw a fire in Sakura's eyes that seemed to just be ignited.

Sakura quickly walked to Tenten and furiously shook her hand as stars seemed to shine from her eyes. "Thank you so much Tenten-san! I'll admit I was scared about what I should do but I will get right on those two as soon as I can!" She hugged the stunned kunoichi before Tenten awkwardly patted her back, "Your welcome?"

"Aww, Ten-chan, you made your first female friend!" a booming voice said from the back of the shop. "Your mother would be so proud! You hear that Chichi, our daughter is growing into a fine woman." Tomoyo opened the door and wiped away tears from his soot covered face, only smearing it even worse than before.

"Tou-san!" Tenten whined indignantly.

Tomoyo only chuckled and gestured his team to follow him to the back, "Come one Team Seven!"

Sasuke did his trademark nasally grunt and sauntered in before Sakura followed him. Naruto took his sweet time as he crawled along the floor, still not capable of standing yet. When Tomoyo watched this with confusion he turned and looked at his daughter.

Tenten merely replied, "She has nice right hook."

XxXxXxX

They walked past the blazing Smithy and what seemed to be where he actually lived till they got to the fairly large sized back yard where a few practice dummies were and a table with various weapons were before he turned around and addressed them with his stance at military at ease, feet shoulder width with his feet forty-five degrees outward and his arms behind his back with his left hand grabbing his right wrist. "Attention!"

All three genin stood at attention on reflex, back straight, chins up, hands at sides with thumbs along trouser seams and feet together forming a ninety-degree angle. They stood stock still as Tomoyo observed each and every one of them before barking once again, "At ease." They all assumed the "At Ease" stance and kept their eyes on him as he crossed his arms. "Now I'm going to make this brief. You shall be tested to see if you qualify for the positions you have rightfully earned. No talking," he announced as Naruto and Sasuke opened their mouths before promptly closing them. "This is for culling those who are able to succeed on paper but have no actual application in the field. Keeps our mortality rates low and looks good on our statistics for our clients to see. Those that don't make it either enroll in supplementary classes or to drop out altogether. Now I like you guys, you have a good balance in thory especially in light of some recent developments," He eyed each one equally but Naruto knew he meant him. "Now this is how it goes, you are to go to the table over there by the fence and choose wisely from them before coming to me and breaking down why you made the choice you did before the final section where you take what you decided and attack me. If I deem both your explanation and application worthy then I wall pass us you. If I don't then I will send you back or drop you on your ass, understood? Good, dismissed."

The genin nodded and made their way over to the table and looked at the wide variety of choice to make. Sasuke observes the weapons and finds two sets of any ninja's basic load out (kunai pack, shuriken pack, and some wire) and takes one before the others do and spies a small straight blade, probably a tanto or a wakizachi and finds the harness for it and puts it at the small of his back and finally snags some exploding tags for himself, leaving only a few left for his _teammates_. Sakura eyes the final set of the load out before nervously looking at Naruto, who also nervously looked back before gesturing for her to take it, which she immediately did and looked for anything else that would catch her eyes but found nothing really that she could implement except for some gloves with plating on the back of the hands, most like to block any weapons it could.

Naruto was nervous because even on his good days, he had trouble with weapons, instead opting to just use his fists to solve his problems. He would have like to have gotten the kit but he knew Sakura was at least a better shot then him and he looked around and tried to find something he could use. Near the end of the table, he spied something that looked kind of badass, a set of gauntlets with what seemed like blades that were lined along the four fingers and at the tips. Next to it was what looked like a mechanism worn on the forearms that could serve as bracers but also seemed like a thin blade came from beneath the wrist and a larger and wider blade from above the wrist.

"_What do you think guys?"_

'_Hmmm, simple yet flexible, using them both in tandem will be a little difficult to learn but given time I think we could do it._

_Maybe, but it looks like it looks much too menacing for my taste._

"**A butter knife is much too menacing for you. I like it!"**

**It might not fit all of us but we can cross that bridge later. I can experiment with them and see what I can do.**

'**Altair meets Baraka! ASSASIN'S KOMBAT! CHOOSE YOUR FIGHT!'**

With the general consensus made he picked them up and tried them on. Some areas needed tailoring but he probably wouldn't be able to keep them anyway. He followed the rest of his team in front of the instructor and stood at ease. Tomoyo observed each one's choice and how they chose them as well. "Uchiha, tell me what you chose and why?"

Sasuke's snide smile was apparent before he imperiously announced, "I chose one of the two basic kits of supplies because of my renowned skill with throwing skills and a shorter thin blade to augment my style of intercepting opponents attacks that my family was revered for, which had many katas for weapons like this blade that I have practiced in."

Tomoyo nodded with an impassive face and gestured for Sakura, "Haruno?"

Sakura fidgeted under his stare and yet spoke clearly, "I also chose the load out after I saw that Naruto didn't want them, the baka, even though I wasn't the most accurate I was fairly decent and it's better to be prepared, much like Sasuke-kun is. I also took some plated gloves for protection just in case as well."

Tomoyo, still as impassive as ever, now looked upon Naruto, "Uzumaki?"

Naruto, kind of bummed from Sakura's stinging remarks, sighed and looked at his sensei with eyes that were a shade bluer than a second ago and spoke calmly and evenly, "We chose the tandem of offensive gauntlets and defensive combination hidden-blade/retractable-katars as our weapons because these weapons are suitable we believe for our flexible style and more up close and personal fighting preferences. I relinquished the customary set up to Sakura because we believe that her aim is better than ours."

Naruto's terse and pointed reply, plus it was in the first person plural, confused his teammates but they chose to wait before they inquired anything. Tomoyo nodded and stepped back to put some distance between him and his would-be students and drew a circle in the ground around him with just the end of his foot about a good five feet in radius around (It took the genin a second to realize that yes, he just literally plowed into the ground with just dragging his feet!) before getting into a fighting stance in the middle of it and taunting his students with a 'Come at me' wave. "Make me leave this circle and you win. You can enter it but once you do you can't leave. Begin!"

Sasuke needed no more incentive and bolted to the side as well as Sakura while Naruto just got ready while his eyes returned to the former blue they were before. They all eyed their teacher and tried to see how they could individually take him down. Sasuke threw some shuriken at the monster of a man to test him out. The man barely flinched as he threw shuriken and intercepted them in midair and some more as a return volley. Sasuke could barely see them they flew so fast and rolled out of the way but still got cut along his lower arm from reacting to slow. He grunted and covered his arm and applied pressure, knowing it wasn't deep but wanting it to coagulate quickly.

Sakura quickly turned to Sasuke and made to run to him but as she did some more shuriken headed her direction and she quickly jumped back and high to avoid them but didn't notice the second volley aimed at her position in the sky and she closed her eyes and tried to cover as much vitals as she could but was surprised when she saw Naruto jump in front her and take the volley. She stared horrified as she saw his body flinch with each impact and was in shock. So much so that she didn't notice him explode in smoke and the weapons fall harmlessly before her. She was tackled by Naruto to avoid a third volley and was placed behind a tree for cover.

Naruto shook her as she stared listlessly at him before the spark came back and she looked at him in shock before hugging him before punching him with tears in her eyes. "What was that for Baka!? You scared the hell outta me! You may be an idiot but that doesn't mean I want you to die!"

Naruto sheepishly rubbed his head (and his growing bump) and replied simply, "It's because you are my teammate. I couldn't just let you get hurt if I could help it!" He suddenly got quiet before he turned and looked around the tree and barely flinched back quick enough to keep his eyeballs intact. "It looks like he's keeping Sasuke busy while keeping us pinned down here. I will run distraction while you move to a good vantage point. See if you can't snipe him from afar while I get up close and personal. Maybe I can get Teme to provide some mid-range support with his fire jutsu he kept showboating while we were in the academy." Sakura nodded dumbly as she saw this whole new side to the idiotic blonde. He hadn't said anything to stupid and that plan, overly simplified as it is, could work.

Naruto crouched down before he made an odd hand-sign before saying _**'Solid Clone Jutsu'**_ and a bunch of smoke erupted before six different Narutos ran in different directions. Sakura waved off the smoke and ran as well behind the smokescreen Naruto inadvertently made and hid in some underbrush that lined half of the field they were using. As Naruto tried his best to avoid becoming a living pin cushion, he snuck towards Sasuke's position behind a decent sized stone. Sasuke leveled a vicious sneer at him and demanded, "What do you want?"

"Jeez, take it easy Teme, just wanted to see if I could ask for your help but if you're gonna be a dick about it then fuck you too."

"I can take him, unlike an idiot like you, by myself."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Right, cause you have been doing so well just now kicking his ass. I can hear sensei's cries of pain from here." Naruto's sarcastic remark seemed only to make him more pissed but as he was about to leave.

'_Naruto, don't let him leave!'_

"_But he's an asshole!"_

'_Naruto!'_

Naruto growled in frustration before he shouted, "Wait!"

"What you fucking Dobe!"

Naruto took a deep breath and looked Sasuke right in the eyes, "Look I'm sorry about what I said. I'm just frustrated that he is handing us our asses on a gold platter with a side of rice. I really could use your help Sasuke. Sakura's running long range since she admits to not being good up close, and I don't know any real jutsu beyond my clones and some REALLY basic element manipulation. The later isn't ready for battle yet so I'm gonna spam as many clones as I can so that I can take the fight to him without getting in the circle and you can use your fire jutsu to try and her him towards the edge. If we have to we can get in there but we should save that for last. So, Sasuke, would you mind helping me here?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto a little bit before sighing and turning back around, "Just don't get in my way." After he said that he jumped behind the next tree and hid in the leaves.

Naruto took that as Sasuke-speak for "okay" before he made a crapton of clones and they all jumped over the boulder and charged at him. Tomoyo watched them come and smirked before unfolding a windmill shuriken and tossing the large spinning death wheel. Suffice to say, with just that one object he managed to narrow the clones significantly and kept an eye out for something. He saw it when one of the Narutos made a hand sign and more clones spawned. He kept his eyes trained on that one and began to launch another windmill shuriken at that particular one, mowing down the clones in its path and when that one jumped out of the way he had already tossed a kunai at where it would be and smirked when it hit, even more so when all the other clones dispelled and that one fell down with a meaty thud. Sadly for him, the clone went from gritting in pain to smirking deviously before dispelling and hearing _**'Katon: Grand Fireball Jutsu!' **_and he turned and saw a burning sphere as big as him heading towards him, and when he made to dodge the attack, a piercing pain in his back shoulder blade caused him to hesitate just for a second as he narrowly dodged the screaming inferno only to realize the screaming was coming from a metallic blade covered fist about to hit him in the face. Using reflexes honed after years of battle and marriage/parenthood, he leaned into a back hand spring and launched the boy in the air with his legs and landed back on his feet as he watched the boy land and bounce off the ground. Naruto slowly got up and looked at his sensei with a foxy grin with red eyes that bled back into blue and coughed as he tried to catch his breath. Tomoyo smiled when he dropped his stance and looked at the downed boy, "You did good, Naruto, but in the end you missed! It doesn't look like you'll be getting up any time soon."

"I didn't need to sensei, but it would have been nice to." Naruto said between wheezes.

Tomoyo looked confused before he realized his error and looked down. He had misjudged his back hand spring and had landed right outside his line. "Well I'll be damned." He laughed out loud in a very pleased way and mad the call to attention once again. Rustling from the bushes behind him alerted him to where Sakura had been (not that he didn't know, he just forget once Naruto started to be a nuisance.) Sasuke dropped and walked over to where he was earlier and obviously made no motion to help his downed teammate trying to catch his breath. Sakura seemed to look at him concerned but followed Sasuke's lead and stood at attention though switching glances between Sasuke and Naruto, as if wondering if she helped Naruto would she be seen as less in Sasuke's eyes. Tomoyo's brows furrowed at this and sighed and went over to the groaning boy and helped him up and lead him towards the rest of his teammates and put him in between Sasuke and Sakura; when Naruto's legs buckled, only Sakura caught him while Sasuke kept on staring straight at Tomoyo as if his teammate wasn't struggling to breathe next to him, which didn't bode well for Tomoyo.

"Congratulations on completing my test. Now I will state my observations, both good and bad, and see if you are worthy to be on my team."

Naruto coughed before grunting, "Bullshit, we did what we were asked and we accomplished the mission."

Tomoyo looked quite serious with his response. "True, but while this does work in your favor to succeed, I'm also anylizing _how_ you accomplished your mission." He pointed towards Sasuke, "Sasuke Uchiha, on your weapon load out you chose the basic set and your blade, both things that were wisely chosen and semi-effective with but you chose them independent of not only what your teammates capabilities and how you can complement them but also on how you took the basic set before anybody else can take them, making sure you had your optimum potential even if you had to minimize the application of your allies. In battle you were capable and were level headed and tested me to see how I would react to certain things, but when it came to me attacking your comrade didn't even see a shred of worry or any motion to bring aid to your obviously out classed friend and chose only to take advantage of it to see if you could strike me. If you had acted as such because you trusted Naruto to aid her I would be less inclined to feel bad about this but I saw your lack of emotion when Naruto's clone was impaled. You just kept the offensive like an unfeeling machine, and while there is a time for such actions, this isn't one of them. Even when Naruto tried to request your cooperation, your initial attitude towards your teammate put that alliance, which was the only reason you won, in jeopardy. My final analysis is that while an exceptional shinobi with skills that do put you ahead of your peers, your lack of empathy and arrogance will be a major problem and a source of frustration for not just you, but those around you as well. Trust needs to be earned, as well as respect. No man is an island."

Sasuke was bristling under the harsh rebuke, but opted to stay silent and just take it even if he didn't agree with it. Tomoyo turned to Sakura, "Sakura, as for your load out you chose the basic load out and a pair of plated gloves, and I do appreciate you consulting Naruto's consent for such a load out but I did not appreciate your remark for his sacrifice afterwards when you were questioned. Plus, your lack of variety shows a lack of ingenuity in that you only chose the basic load out and some gloves when you could have chosen something else to give to your teammates even if you couldn't use it. Sakura, you're the brains of this unit and I need you to act as such in that you need to consider everyone's strengths and weaknesses and plan out how to accent them, and not just copy Sasuke and what he needs. Your battle performance was lacking in that you overly worried over Sasuke and when he barely got a scratch you lost your focus and composure, allowing me to pepper you with the attacks I did, and if it wasn't for Naruto, you would have been too injured to aid in the final assault in the way you did which would have cost the team victory. Yet you also were a crucial part in that skirmish because you made me distracted for that half-second that Naruto needed to get that close and make me react the way I did, and for that I commend you. My final analysis of you is that you need to fixate less on Sasuke, and I don't mean stop caring for him, but not worry over every little thing he does. He's an exceptional ninja and you need to worry about yourself and Naruto. Your skill set is lacking and you need to use that mind for more than just as a living library. You need to be planning ahead and work on your strategy as well as find a niche you can fill in this team."

Sakura was a little let down at her lack of good points but when a comforting squeeze from Naruto and a small "You did good Sakura-chan" eased her worry and depression but when she looked at Sasuke, she got not even an acknowledgement. She slumped but turned to Tomoyo and nodded in acknowledgement. Tomoyo nodded back and looked at the boy who was seeming getting better after that hard blow to his stomach.

"Naruto, on your load out I don't actually have much negative to say about you except that you took a gamble with your life. You chose the clawed gauntlet and the retractable katar with a hidden blade. A flexible and good choice for stealth and close quarter combat specialist, you are neither of the things much less know how to active the trigger mechanisms for said items. Add on to the fact that you didn't get any ranged weaponry, not even the Windmill Shuriken or anything like that is risky if you didn't have the skills or your clones. Yet your willingness to make sure you allies are getting all they can is well and good, you must still worry about yourself and be less self-sacrifice. Did any of you think to split up the kits and divvy out its pieces, no you didn't. As for your performance, I am glad you didn't out right attack me, surprised really but I have a good idea why you didn't," He stared knowingly at the nervous boy. "You saving your comrade earn you points for guts but you could have mounted an assault at the same time with your clones to occupy me so that you could have kept me off you as you retreated. Your attempt to unify your team was successful but you almost let your pride get in the way with Sasuke and it almost cost you big. Luckily you swallowed your pride and were able to coordinate your team on the fly. You have a good "in the moment" strategic mind but your vagueness and lack of thought to tell Sakura your plan could have cost you if Sakura hadn't seen it telegraphed in your actions. Yet, by sheer luck mind you, your plan came together and using your abilities with nature manipulation you were able to get me while I was in a bad position and force me out of my position. Well done but you need to be less of a martyr and more of a leader. And yes I did say leader," he interjected Sasuke's remark and shut him up. "I say that because until you can give two shits about your team and until Sakura can have the power to back it up, Naruto is the best suited to lead even if he is an idiot. Don't let it go to your head Blondie, because I can just as easily take it away if I see you flaunt it or let it get in your head your better than your team."

Naruto made a half smirk at both the good and bad things and nodded in comprehension, secretly ecstatic that someone had put some trust in him and was critiquing him also. _"Someone else is acknowledging my existence! Sure he says I suck but hey he's saying it to help me grow!"_

"All in all, even though I don't approve of both of you having to make me lug the only real injured party into attention with you both, I'm going to pass this team because there is too much potential here not too and you at least worked together in the end. As a bonus for actually accomplishing my mission as no other team I tried was able to, you can keep what you took from the table, but only what you took and nothing more, got it?"

The genin responded with a, "Yes sir!"

"Good, now I am hungrier than I thought I would be and I know that Tenten has made some lunch while we were out here and if y'all want we can eat some?"

Three very vocal growls later answered their question and they all, even Sasuke, had the decency to look embarrassed at their vocal organs.

Tomoyo just laughed and ushered them in as they all chowed down on some scrumptious rice and fish with some tea.

XxXxXxX

Various jounin stood in a room and were rattling off the successes and failures of the teams, and sadly up to Tomoyo it was all failures, even some drop outs. When the Hokage looked at Tomoyo, he seemed especially interested in what his results were in particular. "And how about our Team Seven?"

"Team Seven, passed"

"Hoh? Mind giving us your expert anylsis?"

A random jounin groaned. "Great, another long winded speech from the giant."

Tomoyo only grinned and looked at the jounin, "So Kisuke, how are those arm bracers holding up? I tried to make sure every detail was tailored to your needs, since you are such a necessary asset and all." Which in giant speak was something along the lines of _"Fuck you and your couch, asshole"_.

Needless to say the jounin was pretty humbled and opted for silence.

Tomoyo looked back forward and stood at attention, "Sir, while the team is ideal on paper, there are many personality clashes to deal with. I passed them on the fact that they were able to pass my test when they finally synched up, but before that it was the usual scramble, but when one teammate was in a pretty bad situation, another had to bail them out."

"Probably the damn dead last that had to get saved by Uchiha-san."

"Actually it was that same dead last that saved the Haruno from being incapacitated at his own well-being. I will admit I was proud of him for doing that but that same Uchiha you just put on a pedestal actually completely ignored the situation all together and didn't even _try _to save her, much less show any care at all."

Another humbled and silent jounin. Two for two.

"They eventually got their shit together and coordinated their attack and won in the end, but just so it would deflate their egos, I broke down their every move and showed them where they went wrong and what they should have done. Overall I see a well-rounded team with a person with potential to be a med/genjustu-nin with a sharp mind and a wicked right hook, a good assault with mid to short range applications with a penchant for fire and pointy things, and a decoy/stealth, close-range specialist with a growing potential for flexibility and elemental manipulation. Again, well-rounded but probably best for assault, assassination, and search and destroy."

The Hokage nodded and accepted the explanation. "Thank you Higurashi-san, next how about Team Eight…"

XxXxXxX

Naruto sat at home and relaxed his tired muscles and looked up at the ceiling and everyone but Aoi was out doing something in the apartment.

"This is going to be hard." Naruto murmured out of the blue.

Kiiro looked up from the gauntlets and bracers she was tinkering with and looked at him through magnified glasses, "Well no shit Sherlock! What gave it away, the half a dozen times we were an inverse-porcupine or when Akai was the only thing from keeping us from being cooked well done?"

Murasaki murmered from his corner, "Or the tim Sakura plowed us into the wall, can't forget that."

Akai was doing handstand push-ups and grunted between each rep, "Or about… the time that… we were used… as a springboard… for a man-beast."

Midori insanely piped in, "Or when we protected the world from devastation, and united all peoples within our nation.-"

Naruto groaned as he kept going on about a Rocket and a cat, "I'm serious guys, I don't just mean the world but us too. We got our tails handed to us and we barely did anything! We got a lotta ground to cover before we could even get close to being Hokage. I am kinda nervous about the gap we have to face is all. Maybe it's just jitters… or maybe its Aoi's fault."

"Yep."

"Totally."

"Has to be."

"YA DANG BLUE!"

'_You all can go into a burning building doused in kerosene.'_

Everyone had a good laugh before a voice piped up, "Of course we have a long way to go. We just got started and we all are just coping with this weird messed up situation we are in. We got ourselves here and it's up to us, no one else to dig us out and if we so choose to, become whole again. Till then we rise up, look our enemies in the eyes and give them this to think about while we hand our asses to them."

Everyone stared in shock as Midori's hand disappeared into what looks like a fold in the very space in front of him while he cackled like a mad man.

"Where did his hand go!" Naruto shouted!

"I don't know!" Murasaki exclaimed as he tried tounderstand what was going on.

"How are you doing that!" Kiiro exclaimed in both shock and awe!

"Stop doing that!" Akai said in a freaked out tone!

'_I'm surrounded by idiots, super powered idiots. God help me.'_

Midori just cackled madly, "FUCK YOU FOURTH WALL!" he said as he flipped off the author.

**XxXxXxX**

**Good boy Midori!**

**Now remember peoples, this is a fic that requires a good helping of reading and reviewing to stay afloat as well as all the peeps that fav it and follow it. If ya aint got an account, I would advise getting one, Because that makes one quite the boss!**

**Peace Bitches!**


	5. Military Discipline

**Greetings and Salutations all! I have returned to bring you another installment of the epic of the mentally fractured human sacrifice! Now I am curious what you all think about my writing style (I have the feeling it can get quite boring and dreary with facts) so I DEMAND TO HAVE FEEDBACK ON HOW TO BE A BETTER AUTHOR! KING DDD DEMANDS IT!**

… **or not, that is cool too. Just wantin to be all that I can be is all I am sayin.**

"_Naruto"_

'_Aoi'_

_Murasaki_

"**Akai"**

'**MIDORI**_**!'**_

**Kiiro**

"_**Summons/Kyuubi"**_

'_**Jutsu"**_

**XxXxXxX**

Naruto walked up to the shop his sensei ran and opened the glass pane doors. Tenten was lounging behind the counter once again flipping through what looked like a kuniochi themed magazine. A generic kuniochi woman posed in a deadly yet provocative manner with little blurbs floated around the page like _'Seduce your target in 6 different ways' 'Maintain your taijutsu form while keeping the girls in check' _and _'10 ways to hide weapons in your bikini'._ Needless to say, Naruto was both frightened and yet curious. A pointed look from the bun-haired reader broke his concentration and she answered his unasked question.

"Pinkie already is out back with Dad. Uchiha-san hasn't come yet so atleast you aren't last."

"Thanks Tenten-sempai." Naruto turned from the counter and headed toward the door that lead to the forge and beyond to the strange backyard that doubled as a training ground. He saw Sakura talking with Sensei about something or other and decided to politely wait on the other side of the giant and wait his turn to speak. If nothing else, Aoi had taught him _some_ manners. He sat down and decided he might as well check to see what everyone thought they would be doing today as he tried to not eavesdrop on Sakura's conversation.

**Honestly, I just want to get out and stretch my legs. A girl can get cramped in here with these idiots taking all the space.**

"**How are we taking any space, we are in his head?"**

_It is quite empty in here._

"_Hey!"_

Naruto quickly left that argument and decided that eavesdropping might not be that bad afterall.

"-besides Sensei, what if I get too bulky and I begin to look ugly?" Sakura whined.

"Sakura," Tomoyo sighed before rubbing his eyes to ward off a growing migraine, "I'm not asking you to be either Ms. Universe or overweight, I am just advising you as both your sensei and commanding officer that while maintaining a healthy diet is all well and good for _health_ reasons, trying to deprive yourself from the calories and carbs to maintain an active military career could not only be detrimental, but lethal to you and your team if you tire out after trying to flee from enemies or even if you get winded too quickly in a fight. I'm sure that not only would your battle proficiency increase, but also your physique will grow to adapt to your lifestyle. You may not look like any models or geishas, but you will fill out in your own way and blossom into a beautiful Kuniochi."

Sakura sighed in defeat and mumbled an 'I'll think about it' before sulking off into a corner of the yard to mull over the issue.

"You handled that well," Akai's voice intoned sarcastically through Naruto's lips.

Tomoyo glowered at Naruto as the boy's irises bled away into blue once again and silently apologized. Tomoyo rolled his eyes before saying, "It needed to be done. She was moderately fit but was severely lacking in stamina and muscle mass. There is a time and a place for a thin body and this occupation isn't one of them. Wasn't even half this hard with my little battle angel though." He sighed sadly, seeing no one else meet up to his daughter's standards.

Naruto rolled his eyes before he had a look of confusion before he turned to the man and asked, "Hey, Akai wants to know if you have any advice for us?"

"Why doesn't he ask himself, since he seems to have no qualms voicing his opinion?"

"Says he's brave, not stupid."

"Debatable," Tomoyo rubbed his grizzled jaw and felt the sandpaper texture of his shadow as he thought over his thousands of things to aid the misfortunate boy. "I honestly don't know what to start with. I have plenty of things to say but I don't have enough info to really build a plan for you yet."

"Oh, okay." Naruto felt kind of dejected, thinking he was being passed over again like in the academy.

"Well, let me ask this, what progress have you had with finding out the mechanics of your situation?"

'_Do you mind if I can explain?'_

"_Go right on ahead."_

Naruto's disposition changed as he sat straighter and a more calculating stare entered his darker eyes. "Through further study with Sarutobi-sama after yesterday's exam, we learned some deeper mechanics with our predicament. Firstly, we found out that the reason why Naruto is so debilitated when we vacate his body is it is not do we take the lion's share of his chakra with us, but we are take the Yin aspect of it with us. He's basically running on half of the energy required to run his body and it leaves him severely destabilized when at least one of us aren't in him to bring balance. Which brings me to my second point, that there is a benefit to this predicament, a silver lining if you will."

Tomoyo gets comfortable as he watches Sakura mope under a tree, "Go on."

Aoi sighs before resting his head in his palm, "Basically since we are a reflection of the primary elements, we each have the ability to form the elements and conjure them with our will. Naruto is in charge of the body's Yang, the ability to give it shape and purpose. When we all leave hhim, his body has the ability to function, but not the energy to move. We leave his body taking some of that yang with us, but not a whole lot. Like take for example me. When I separate from Naruto and manipulate the water around me do some descent nature manipulation, but the most I could do would feel like I was pouring a bucket of water on someone. With me in control on the other hand, I could be a lot more effective with my abilities and would be able to form jutsu easily of that nature, but not of any other. These rules apply to all of us."

"So bottom line I have a student capable of nearly every jutsu on the elemental wheel?"

"Sort of." Aoi's face scrunches up in annoyance. "We can only do it one nature at a time and it takes us a minute to fully transition since the chakra has to realign itself. Besides, we still need to be taught our techniques anyway so you just got nearly three times the students anybody else would. And if we want to learn any technique to any sense of competence then we have to train while in charge of the body. One of the scientists tried to see if we could mix but at the moment it's not feasible. Naruto and I find it to be an interesting idea but the others are a little hesitant (if not outright obstinate) to try and I get the feeling It's gotta be something we ease into. We are still trying to get Naruto to be able to pick up our natures but his control over them are negligible at best, disastrous at worse. Naruto, being the body aspect of chakra, is more in tune with the physical aspects of the ninja life. When he is in charge, he is faster, stronger, and also his reflexes were significantly better than if one of us tried to be in the lead and is better with the non-elemental techniques like Henge, or Kawarimi. When we tried it, we just set the thing we wanted to switch with on fire **'HEY!'** or we turned into an elemental version of the person we switched with, like a human torch."

Tomoyo nodded and mulled over the update and though it had its significant drawbacks, but the pros outweighed the cons from a flexibility standpoint. "Still hell of an ability. No I just gotta find a way to make the three of you mesh into at least a decent team."

"I don't envy you," Aoi sympathetically intoned before he closed his eyes and Naruto's lighter blue eyes shone forth. Before he yawned and walked over to Sakura and tried to cheer her up.

Tomoyo just leaned back and stared up at the clouds _'Maybe Kakashi had the right idea. Not to days in and I'm already dealing with too much shit.'_ He turned his head and saw Sasuke make his way into the clearing, his body language more than hinting at his distaste for being there. _'Must still be sore over my totally accurate analysis of his performance. Still, he at least kept the sword.'_ And indeed he did, secure on his lower back at an angle since it was a chokuto, not quite as long as a wakizachi, but not as short as a tanto.

When Sasuke turned toward his teacher, Tomoyo beckoned him forward and waited for the wayward boy to begrudgingly walk towards him, annoyance clear on his face as he stood at attention. "Yes, Sensei?" Sasuke drawled out.

'_No Tomoyo, you can't beat the face in of one of your student before training begins. Save that for sparring.'_ "At ease." Sasuke did so but still looked quite uncomfortably annoyed. _'Man, how long is that stick shoved up his ass.'_ "You have permission to speak freely about what I am about to ask you about. Tll me what you think about your teammates, and do be honest. I don't take lip service nor ass kissing well at all."

Sasuke glowered at his teacher, seemingly not enjoying the accusation that he would do as such. "They are both useless and dead weight. One more than the other but I still haven't decided which yet. I don't care about them or what they wish to achieve. I have my ambition, no my mission and I could care less about what they are like as people so long as they stay out of my way. All I want from this team is to become strong enough to leave it and get a position to pursue _him_."

'_Yep, gonna beat him unconscious during sparring.'_

Tomoyo made a dismissive motion with his hand as he tried to figure out who he pissed off to have earned this cluster of a team

**XxXxXxX**

"Alright Team Seven, first day of training is going to be one where we get you geared up. As genin, your normally exempt from wearing standard uniform, but while your under my command you will wear standard issue uniforms and the reason is because they are standard issue for a reason. They offer protection whilst maintain a modicum camouflage and flexibility. Learn 'em, like 'em, Love 'em. I have sets prepped for you and while you can't wear chunin vests for obvious reasons, you will be wearing these protection vest similar but different enough to not be confused otherwise."

He gestured to the same table that held their weapons yesterday to find five sets of clothes each, a pair of steel toed boots, and a traveling cloak. Each set had a short sleeve shirt, a long sleeve shirt with pockets in the sleeves, a pair of khakis with plenty of pockets, a vest and a pair of wool socks. Sasuke's pile was immediately obvious because the fan symbol was present on the vest located on the front right breast. His gear was thinner than it seemed and seemed to be made of a different material than cotton. "Sasuke, you've been spec'd out for speed and the clothing is as fire retardant as I could make it to compliment your family's jutsu style. After today I'm going to give you a set of weaponry of the bladed type, different swords and various other pointy things that I want you to learn to use with competence, since while you may have personal equipment you can excel at, you may be put into "Procure-On-Site" situations where you will go in without your gear and have to make due. When I'm done with you, you're going to be able to pick up a spoon and be able to assassinate a high profile target so fast they are going to call it natural causes. We will focus on speed training, weapon proficiency, and your firre jutsu for now. Sound good?" Sasuke merely smiled fiercely before looking over his gear.

Sakura found hers as well because of the white circle in the same place as Sasuke's fan and hers was riddled with more pockets and holster sand sheathes. "Sakura, right now I still don't know what to do with you per se, so we'll stick you with support and ranged abilities and you will also be our tech person. You keep an eye on these idiots from afar and provide cover and any useful Intel you can. We'll see what we can do about jutsu later but we will stick with what we know for now and that is that you are capable of retaining vast amounts of knowledge, so I will also put you in charge of Intel retrieval. I will give you a support person's load out with some tech like communication devices and trap supplies. You're my only one with actual homework in that by next week I want you to have scoured through the library and pulled up any useful information on terrain of other countries, strategy, key figures in history, jutsu affiliation, anatomy, flora and fauna poisonous and edible, culture and traditions, and most of all bingo books. When I'm done with you, you will know the Elemental Nations like the back of your hand and be able to work your way into an enemy country, blend in with them, do what you need, bug out, and leave nothing but a calling card saying they were too late to know you were even there. After next week, I want you to brief me and your teammates on any mission we will be entering into, if we have some new equipment, how to use it, and how in general not to fuck up. Got it?" Sakura paled at how much she will have to learn and how much is expected of her. She began to get real worried until a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder made her turn. She wished it was Sasuke but couldn't help being disappointed that it was Naruto. Trying not to be too heartless, she placed a hand on Naruto's and squeezed back, smiling in gratitude before turning back to her teacher and nodding with a tougher look on her face.

'_Kid's a natural encourager. Will help him in his leadership position, but I would like to see him encourage Sasuke or rebuke Sakura before I will be impressed.'_ Naruto Turned to his pile with orange whirlpool design and noticed where Sasuke's was thinner, his was thicker and the clothes were thicker as well. "Naruto you are gonna be our hammer and our dagger. Where I expect all of you to be proficient at stealth, you are going to be our ambush artist and our heavy hitter. Sakura snipes, Sasuke sweeps, you get in their face and behind their backs and win any way you know how. You are to coordinate with your team to achieve maximum efficiency and to minimalize casualties. Use your clones to provide diversions and recon areas without the enemy knowing before you descend on them like a legion from hell. When I'm done with you, you will be able to coordinate your men like a leader and be the first one in the fray, have highest kill count, and the last to pull out. I'm going to give you more jutsu oriented training and run you through mock simulations with your team and grade you based of your performance. I'm also going to work more on strength with you and learning to dodge while teaching you how to use those gauntlets you had before along with the blade and katar to supplement your hand-to-hand. Sound like a plan?" Naruto merely replied with a "Hell ya!"

"Alright then, go suit up and meet back here. It's time for some sparring." Tomoyo said, hiding his sadistic glee on how much he is going to trounc- humble, humble the poor fools- I mean students.

**XxXxXxX**

And so for the next few weeks, they trained or did missions. It began with them doing workouts both as a team and separate for the first hour and a half. Then they rested for half an hour where Tomoyo gave each one a scenario and they had to have a good solution by the end of their break or they would be handicapped on the next portion of the training, simulated or actual missions. Sometimes they would be blinded and they would need to rely on their teammates to get the mission completed; other times they were weighed down or forced to not use something, such as Sasuke not being able to use his fire jutsu or sword or Naruto with his clones or Sakura couldn't speak a word and had to sign the guys what she wanted to convey to them. They were incapable of working together at first. Sasuke always ignored anything else the others said and Sakura would go along with his idea while Naruto wanted to do everything with his clones while yelling at Sasuke to try and get him to listen. It was extremely rocky at first but after enough times of failing their missions and having to do them again with more handicaps, the team slowly began to work in synch.

After their mock mission they would lunch before they would work on their chakra and jutsu. Tomoyo would split them up and give them their own section of the field and work with each one until they got the gist of what he asked them to do before heading out and getting the next one their assignment. He started them all off on tree running just to get them used to sending chakra to every part of their body before he gave them individual projects. Sasuke he wanted to learn how to use chakra to augment his speed and reflexes so he had him run an obstacle course he made out of an earth jutsu and had him constantly keep improving his time, switching up the course every day. Sakura he got to learn camouflage jutsu and what few genjutsu he knew that did minor disruption of perception or kept the caster as anonymous as possible when someone was looking at them. With Naruto, he had him run the basic tests of the elemental wheel and learn how to use chakra to strengthen and toughen the body while in the midst of battle.

To finish the day, he had them all spar. Not always one-on-one, sometimes he would pit two against one, free for all, or three against one. This is when it would get most interesting. Sasuke and Naruto would always try to out-do each other and rarely worked with any sense of cohesion, Sasuke would at first ignore Sakura until she started to be able to put him and Naruto in bad situations with traps and sniping from afar. After he started actually noticing this he began to at least give her his attention, but not quite his respect yet. Naruto was quick to give Sakura a chance and they slowly began to treat each other better. Sakura began to see Naruto as a person after all the encouragement he gave her and tried to help him when she could and he was too busy or too tired to ask her out on dates or anything of the like, especially since he still needed to come to terms with his new situation. It was slow, but they were coming together as a team.

They were given Sunday off and he would offer to have dinner with them on Saturdays after training, which Sasuke would usually refuse and Sakura would have plans with her family (Naruto would always stay, not one to turn down a free meal and some company that wasn't himself). Yet this Saturday we see the full team in the dining area of the Higurashi home enjoying a hearty meal.

"-and that damn cat kept clawing at me until we made it to the mission office! And when we gave it to the Daimyo's wife, she could have squeezed that thing till it exploded for all I care!"

Naruto finished the tale of their time chasing the demon cat Tora to a chuckling Tenten. Sasuke just smirked at the memory, also enjoying the cat's torture maybe a little too well. Sakura just felt for the poor thin (coincidentally, she wasn't scratched once). Tomoyo just smiled as he enjoyed his meal and watched his daughter interact with his spirited junior leader.

Tenten swallowed her food before nodding in a commiserating manner. "Tell me about it. When my team got that mission, we found it quickly and secured it just as fast but we fumbled around taking it home. My arms were covered in scratches and Neji, my teammate I told you about-"

"The huge prick or the weirdo?"

"The prick. Anyway, I threw it at him before I made that thing a pincushion and it landed on his face and he made the Hyuuga equivalent of a womanly scream before throwing it Lee. Somehow the cat didn't move after that, I think because he is stupid strong and just forced it still. Still, can't blame the cat for how it acts if its owner treats it like that."

"I can and I will. You agree right Sakura-chan?"

Sakura made an unsure face and shrugged, "I'm not much of an animal person so my opinion is moot." Her lame excuse caused Naruto to turn to his last resort for agreement. Sadly, that last resort just smirked and proceeded to pop another cherry tomato in his mouth. "Oh go jump off a bridge, teme."

Tomoyo chuckled before announcing, "Language Naruto. Anyways, I have an announcement Team Seven." That got everyone's attention at the table. "I am glad you all could make it this time so I only have to say this once. Starting Monday, we are going on our first C-ranked mission." Surprise and mixed feelings sprang from that declaration. Naruto looked like he was vibrating in his seat with excitement and various emotions crossing his face, more than likely talking to the various personalities (aspects as they like to be called) in his head. Sakura looked worried and yet maybe a little anxious to go, but sighed and took that same face when she got serious and nodded. Sasuke on the other hand looked antsy, obviously looking forward to the increased difficulty of his opponents in the big wide world.

Tenten on the other hand looked affronted. "What? That's bogus! It took my sensei three months, THREE MONTHS, to even contemplate taking a C-ranked." She tossed a scathing look at Naruto and bobbed him in the shoulder. "You lucky idiot," She mumbled as she began to pout. Naruto got a worried look on his face as he thought she was really angry and tried to assuage her with a pat on the shoulder and assured her that she was still awesome in his eyes. Tenten only smiled back at him and playfully doted on her cute kohai, which then caused Naruto to do a 180 and start batting away her hands from squeezing his cheeks.

"Naruto." Tomoyo barked.

Said boy froze in the midst of his defense with one of his thumbs in Tenten's cheek and Tenten's fingers pinching Naruto's cheeks. They quickly disentangled themselves and Naruto sat at attention. "Have we been assigned the mission yet?"

"Yes"

"May I see the mission scroll sir?" Tomoyo tossed it at Naruto and watched as the blonde scanned through the mission details with darker eyes before handing it to Sasuke. "Our mission is an escort mission to Wave country. The VIP is a bridge builder that came to set up a supply chain for the project he is working on, a bridge that will span the length of water that keeps Wave water-locked from the rest of the Elemental Nations. Maximum threat level is any wayward highwayman along the road but we should be for that. Travel time will be three to four days pending on clients comfort." The scroll was handed to Sakura whose eyes drank up any detail she could and seemed to be trying to pull up any information she had on the locale. "Sakura, tonight I want you to pull up anything you have clearance for on Wave. Past missions, Economic standing, recent missing-nin sightings, and terrain leading there and what it's like on the island itself. You will stay near the client and provide support while keeping him safe." Sakura nodded before pocketing the scroll and already setting up a catalogue of books she's gonna have to scour for the mission. "Sasuke," said boy turned his attention to Naruto from his own musing, "I want you to take point in this op. I may have been made leader but you are still the better ninja and will see things before I do. Prep for anything and everything and leave nothing to chance." Sasuke smirked and nodded in a content fashion this time, finding taking orders from Naruto easier if he was still acknowledged as the better ninja. "I'm going to run recon with my clones and have them scout out the area around us just to give us some time to prep if we have incoming or to avoid permanent stations like any camps while I watch our six." Tenten looked mildly impressed with how Naruto was handling the pre-op and stayed silent as she gauged her dad's reaction.

Tomoyo just smiled in pride seeing that after a month of drilling them on logistics and scenarios, seeing it come to fruition was more than he had expected. "Good job everyone. I'll stay near the client as well and offer some extra protection but will only interfere if the situation demands it. You all will come over tomorrow to run some last minute review on single VIP protection detail and get whatever intel Sakura can scrounge up in that time. After that, I want you ready, rested, and prepared for the mission at 0800 hours Monday morning. Dismissed." And with only the sound of the wind Sakura left to begin her more than likely all-nighter. Sasuke simply stood and bowed, thanking for the meal before walking out the door. Tenten took the dishes and when offered by Naruto to help, declined, seeing that her dad wanted to talk to him.

Naruto nodded before turning to his teacher and waited.

"How do the others feel about this?" Tomoyo simply asked as he sipped on some tea.

Naruto sighed before closing his eyes and seemed to collect his thoughts. "Akai is spoiling for the fight, says he can't wait to kick some ass. Aoi is currently helping me pull together plans and contingencies just in case. Murasaki thinks it's too early for us but doesn't care too much. Midori wants a coconut. Kiiro wished she could tweak the gauntlets a little more before field testing them but is deferring to your judgment in this case. Do you still think it was a wise idea to keep them from the rest of the team. The Kyuubi I could understand, but shouldn't they know about my accidental ability?"

"Your position as team leader is tentative at best still after this month, and it's best to keep them under wraps until you've proven yourself capable and earned their respect despite the perceived handicap."

Naruto nodded and stood up and excused himself to go and help Tenten with the dishes, as was their building tradition. Tomoyo just sipped his tea and relaxed as he was still worried about the idea on them on a C-ranked this early in their career. But after watching his team actually fall into their niches was a load off his mind

'_There is hope for this team afterall.'_

He was broken from his musing at the sound of a scuffle in the kitchen before the sound of glass shattering. He shook his head at the following cry of "Wasn't me!" from both teenagers.

'_That's the fourth dish this month.'_ He mentally moaned as he rubbed his temples

**XxXxXxX**

At 0800 hours that following day we see Team Seven sitting in mission garb with travel packs with the essentials for wilderness camping, some rations and water bladders and canteens. They stood waiting for their client by the gate closest to their target destination, as was stipulated in the mission statement. Sasuke stood against the wall around their village with the same blade at his low back but also various holsters and supply pouches at his waist on his vest filled with various sharp pointy things that he had no qualms at all using. Sakura was decked in her mission gear with her hair covered by a bandanna with the forehead protector on the front, sitting on a bench and she looked the most decked out than the others, with pouches and pockets and holsters all over her with all her trap gear and scrolls filled with information and maps that she didn't have time to memorize and was focused on rolling a shuriken through her fingers without being cut, switching directions suddenly of tossing it to the other hand to practice catching them. Naruto sat between his team on the ground and seemed to be drawing in the sand what looked like formations with a finger that looked like a claw. His bulkier vest seemed to be less covered in holsters and pockets and had pieces of metal covering various parts that lacked the pockets of the others.

Not long after five after they saw their sensei's gigantic frame walking their way with a thrashing man over his shoulder moaning loudly his exception to the situation

"Morning team! Seemed our client had a fun night last night and had to be escorted to the front gate as well as home so I happily volunteered." Tomoyo set the client on his feet and stepped back to allow the aged man to gain his bearings. He wasn't much of an impressive figure, grey beard and hair covered by what looked like a fisherman's hat and simple travel clothes and sandals. A gourd was at his waist that he took a swig of and the teens could smell the alcohol from here. "Now let's not be rude and introduce ourselves, this Tazuna-san. You already met me, and these are my genin students. The one on the wall is Sasuke Uchiha, the one on the bench is Sakura Haruno, and the one that is ignoring you and still drawing in the sand is Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto!" Naruto bolted at attention and looked around before zeroing in on the client before clearing his throat and nodding before walking to the client and shaking his hand.

"I apologize sir; I was running some last minute plans over in my head. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I am team leader when Sensei isn't around and I hope that you enjoy your time under our care. If you would follow Sasuke as he will be running point for our formations and Sakura will be next to you while I'll be a little behind watching our rear. Sensei will watch you from your other side. If there anything you wish comment about before we head out?"

Tazuna only looked at the kid through bleary eyes before screwing up his face in hung-over thought. "Uzumaki huh? Where have I heard that? Anyway, nah, no comment, let's just go." Which he did, following Sasuke out the door.

Naruto turned to his sensei and mouthed 'How did I do?'

Tomoyo just gave a smile and a thumb up before following Tazuna. Naruto gave himself a moment to do a tiny victory dance before walking out the gates and spawning some clones to run a perimeter and conversed with the aspects in his head.

**XxXxXxX**

**Dang that took too long. I'll be honest I have been both busy and lazy and this just wasn't highest on the list of things to do.**

**Remember to review and give me some advice!**


	6. Chapter 6

_"Naruto"_

_'Aoi' (blue, calm)_

_Murasaki (purple, romantic)_

**"Akai" (red, gung-ho)**

**_ '_****MIDORI****_!' (Green, bish be cray)_**

**Kiiro (yellow, ingenuity)**

**_"Summons/Kyuubi"_**

_**'Jutsu"**_

**Been gone a while but Here is something to get me in the Good again!**

The day started out like any other.

The morning was active with the signs of life as the be in went about breaking camp and the jounin dictating them as they went about their assigned tasks and Tazuna watched all this with tired eyes. Broody Brat was cleaning the fire and putting up the supplies (just putting things over a scroll and then POP! They were gone!), Clawed Brat was out disassembling every trap and warning system they had set up last night with his clones (Clones! Imagine the uses!), and Pink Brat was out collecting water and prepping their meals for the day (and collecting samples of any useful herbs along the way, not that). Tazuna may have been a bit… reluctant to go with this group of children as his escort, but seeing their efficiency at their tasks at the crack of dawn really put a few of his worries at ease. He could barely get his grandson up before dawn even before-

He cut that train of thought off and drowned it in the sake he had on him.

The Giant Menace (as he had quickly taken to calling the big and tall gentleman) set his team up like a drill Sargent and then delegated to Clawed Brat the particulars. Broody took the lead again and his messy hair swayed with each swivel of his head and those sharp dark eyes, that set Tazuna with a sense of wariness, scanned their surroundings with a determined focus that it was almost unnerving how unerring it was. Claws and Pink were at his sides and he was glad for it, being that they were the most social and quite frankly nicer of the group, talking about his home country (edited mind you, they are still children) and Pink shouting blurbs about such and such plant or some historic event about somewhere he mentioned that not even he knew about. Claws had a bad habit of spacing occasionally but hey, he had a clawed gauntlet on, this super bridge builder wasn't going to point something out like that no matter how nice he seemed! The Giant took up the back and seemed pretty relaxed back there, sometimes whistling a jaunty tune and throwing occasional facts alongside Pink.

It was about midday when the fit hit the shan.

Out of nowhere Tazuna was pushed to the ground and he was tasting dirt when the sounds of metal striking metal and grunts of exertion hit his ears. He turned his head a bit and saw Pink keeping him down as she did those weird ninja hand gestures before he just felt his surrounding go wrong by just a hair, like he wasn't seeing exactly what was supposed to be exactly right there. He felt like puking. Super not cool.

Claws was apparently having issues with some relatives because he saw two ninja now being held back hand in hand with much bigger and meaner looking ones on one of their hands each, a dust cloud kicking up from where he was pushed back quite a few feet. Suddenly, sparks jumped over the claws and the big ones backed off with murder in their eyes as they shook their hands to regain feeling before their chain, which he just noticed were connected to each of the bad ninja's claws, was pinned to a tree and Broody handstands between them and shot them each a kick in the side that throws them apart before yanked back by the aforementioned chain. They then did something which disconnected it before they each headed towards him.

… Oh shit they were here for him!

Luckily, before those two could stab him dead, Claws and Broody intercepted each and held them off. Claws seemed to grapple the guys' claw, seeing as he had two himself and with his spare kept trying to cut or strike his opponent but he was blocking with those knives ninjas like, Coon-eyes or something or other. Broody was just dancing around his opponent like a freaking dancer. It was like watching a bear try to catch a bird and was failing miserably. Then in an obviously choreographed move, the good guys missed their current opponents on purpose and stroked the other's opponents. But they were apparently too slow because bad guys were about to make sushi out of his protectors, before the giant materialized between the two and clucked their heads together like some kinda kids show superhero! If his life wasn't on the line he would find this shit absolutely entertaining! Gotta head to those Chunin exam things more often.

Naruto panted as he finally felt the adrenaline bleed away from his system and the gravity of the situation hit him hard. He almost died! He didn't luckily but holy crap!

Sasuke must have come to the same revelation their eyes met and only one phrase was exchanged between their minds.

_"We kick ass!"_

They both then decided to sit down and catch their breath before they did anything else. Their bodies seemed to have been on autopilot through most that fight. Hours and weeks and months of team training finally kicking in before they realized it, having just rode that wave to this point.

_"Everything ok in there?"_

_'We all are mostly shaken up but we are fine. Some are taking it better than most.'_

**"Let's do it again! Let's do it again!"**

_For the love of God, please don't! _ Murasaki seemed to be taking it hard if the quiver in his mental voice told of anything.

Naruto sighed and looked towards his sensei to see what he was doing. Seemed he was securing the assailants in some rope he ninjaed from nowhere and had them pretty tight too if he was seeing right.

Tomoyo looked towards his team and smiled. "Good job you all. You held your own well and protected the client flawlessly. Seems the practices were sticking more than I thought!" Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment and a small amount of bliss for being complimented for once. He had kicked the habit of scratching his head after a few times of cutting his scalp open. Bad memories.

"Now team, you get your first visual lesson on interrogation and retrieving information from your captive foe." He adopted the teaching pose he had grown famous for with one finger in the air as if showing enlightenment through his closed eyelids. "Information is the only true asset any Shinobi can't go without in his life. With it, he can destroy an army, coerce a daimyo, or save a life. It's why I am so hard on you Sakura about knowing your surroundings and the like. But now all three of you shall learn how to pull it from a human being. First, know your enemy. Sakura, identify!"

Sakura stood ramrod straight and pulled out a bingo book (her personal copy if the stickers of hearts and Kunai and bookmarks all through it were any indication) before leafing to a page and stating off almost clinically. "Gozu and Mizu, so called the "Demon Brothers". Chunin. Bounty, 10,000 alive for both. 5,000 for one. 2,000 if dead. Known for gauntlets and chain and ambush specialists and assassins. Participated in coup against Mizukage. C-ranked individually but B when working in tandem. Flee if caught unawares and re-evaluate situation before further action. Don't get caught between them."

"Good job. Now what does that tell us Sasuke?"

Sasuke just took a deep breath before looking up at his sensei with curious eyes. "We didn't follow the exact method but we were able to hold them off before you intervened and finished the fight." He says with a bit of a pointed stare at the later part of his sentence.

"You did, but they were about to dispatch both of you at the end there. Not through lack of technique or synchronized actions, just they were faster, and more experienced." Sasuke nodded at that, but still felt he should have done better. _He_ wouldn't have been caught unaware period, much less be beaten without help.

"Naruto." Said blond quickly met the eyes of his sensei. "How do you think we should handle them now that they are pacified?"

"Well take their gear for starters."

Tomoyo smiled and nodded before the team stripped them of their gloves and unpinned the chain before taking their rebreathers and tool pouches. Its strange how after shedding all that, they looked amazingly human when before they seemed like monsters. Just a pair of average guys with messy hair and twin faces.

"Now, how do you think we should extract information from them?"

Naruto thought hard about this before a nudging from his mind decided to make itself known. He did his usual and allowed them the control and his eyes now had an electric yellow look to them. "Well they are obviously professionals," his voice now seemed a bit higher pitched and an entirely new inflection was found in them that almost made his team jump in surprise before starring at him intently, "which means that intimidation is not enough. Also, we lack the people to really reinforce our point through Justu like the Yamanaka, so we will have to use good old fashioned torture?" His minor sarcastic glee could almost be forgiven if it wasn't so damn creepy seeing him quirk his head and an unsettling smile settle on his lips. Sasuke pursed his lips in thought as Sakura pales at the thought of it

Tomoyo took it in stride and nodded. "Indeed." Sakura jolted her head to him in which but he just looked back. "It's an occupational hazard Sakura. Remember the lessons of pressure points and how to ask the right questions to get the right responses?" She nods but her pale looks now seem to be turning green.

Before Sakura could say anything though, Sasuke interrupted her. "Sensei, real quick, would not ninja wire be best for securing our foe?"

Tomoyo nods but his face said he didn't agree. "That is a common mistake, but the fact is that it is too sheer and some enemies will go to any length to escape. It will cut into flesh and is good for traps and binding limps together, but it's too much to use for personal binding and it can be broken with enough force and some will even use it to kill themselves before talking. Rope has a greater tensile strength, it's heavier, and if you use coarse rope untreated it can be an even worse irritant. You want a binding to be secure and uncomfortable, not lethal. Keep one untreated and another treated if you feel the need. Now, Sakura? Are you ready?"

She squirms and becomes seemingly squeamish, but nods and takes a deep breath. Naruto nudges her side with a smile and she reciprocates it before another nudge surprises her and when she turns and sees it Sasuke, she almost faints. He doesn't say anything, it is just not him, but the thought of interrogation still unsettled him and seeing his teammate about to do it caused something in him long since lost in darkness to surface for a brief encounter. That's why Sakura saw the smallest glimmer of encouragement in those shadowy pools that were his eyes, and it was all the world for looked towards her sensei and nodded with a clenched jaw and a determined stare.

Tomoyo felt more pride in this single moment than anytime doing the fight.

She marched up to her new charge and after a brief scan of her book she decided to wake the younger brother. Fetching smelling salts from her pouch, she crouches and wafts it under his nose and while she does this, she subtly adds some herbs to a glass of water. Mizu came to and when he saw the girl his face set into a vicious scowl and chuckles darkly. "To have been taken hostage from some Genin girl. Where's your mommy, little girl?"

"At home tending to the house but let's talk about you. What is your name?"

"You, first name Fuck."

"Cute." She holds up a glass of water. "Thirsty?"

He snorts before looking at her like she was an idiot. "For real? That shits probably poisoned."

Sakura looks almost shocked as if the thought never occurred to her before she takes a sip herself before smacking her lips. "It is a bit tart? But not that bad. Try some."

Seeing her guileless face he smirked and took a sip before smacking his lips too, the cooling flush clearing his throat and parching his thirst. "Must be from a naturally filtered spring. All over the Mist village."

Sakura smiled and put the drink aside before looking to him. "What's your name?"

He barked in laughter as he started feeling good after a good drink of water. "You think you can crack the Demon Brothers by simply asking us a simple question. You're a thousand kills too early to be interrogating us."

Sakura kept the smirk from her lips at his slip and instead seemed to show some frustration. "Alright, why were you here? What's your mission?"

The good feeling spread across his body and he started to be more aware of how the rope was digging into his chest and pinching the skin as well as it's course texture against his feet and hands were really getting to him as well as getting a lighter head. "Why should I tell you what my mission is? You're just the punk that stood between me and my target. Stupid bridge builder will taste my claws soon enough."

She ignored the slip again before pressing. "What about your employer? Who sent you and who are your accomplice?"

His head now felt like it was swimming and he began to fidget in his place on the ground and his words began to slur. "He is gonna get you little shits. The Bloody Demon is gonna come before ya even know it and his little bitch too. Freeze you in fear and ice before you are even aware your dead." Suddenly he slumped over and passed out before saying anymore, writhing in place and whimpering in obvious discomfort and other strange noises.

Sakura stood up and only stumbled only a little bit, her head light and legs heavy as she feels the small dosage going through her system. Naruto was quick to hold her up as she smiled his way while his touch almost felt so good in all the wrong ways. She looked at her sensei with a small loopy smile. "Did I do good?"

Tomoyo looked into her eyes and frowns a bit. "What did you dope him with? And why did you take it too?"

She giggled as Naruto's hair brushed along her skin and his hand at her waist felt nice, but it was Sasuke's stare was really making her smile wide. "I found some Lover's Touch while getting the water as well as a few other herbs and I decided to not poison him in the conventional sense. I overdosed it to make it affect faster and more aggressively to make him give up the info. I wouldn't get my answers by just asking and…" Her face turns green again. "I didn't wanna torture him for it so I chose this herb and I back washed what I could before handing it to him but I got a little bit. It will clear my system soon especially with that flush Justu I learned. Just need some time and rest afterwords."

Tomoyo sighed and looked at her. "It worked but it was a gamble and a risk. You would have been better off harming him, not doping him up because he got dele riots at the most crucial point." He sighed again before shrugging. "Just go and rest up and flush that out of your system. I will handle the other brother, but a lot more _invasive._" He plucked the brother and before disappearing, barked the last order. "Code word is Lover's Touch. Assume hostile until given code word and protect the client." After three nods he was gone in a flash of leaves.

Needless to say, he got his answers and the brother didn't look the best on his return. Bruises on his face and cuts on his arms and a single nail was not present when he returned but he got his desired results. Upon his return and announcement of the code word he saw that Sakura was tired and her chakra seemed diminished as Sasuke and Naruto nursed their wounds. He immediately marched up to Tazuna and used his towering physique to tower over him and glare down at the poor bridge builder.

"Seems there were a few details you didn't share with the mission's office."

Tazuna felt cold ice wash down his back and he couldn't stop the mild tremble in his legs. _'They are gonna drop me here alone and My country is gonna choketodeathatthehandofaTyrantandit'sallgonnabemyfaul-'_

"Lucky for you our intelligence network informed of the issues before we left and I accounted for this." Tazuna nearly dropped to his knees in a wave of relief and yet still the barest strain of apprehension dug-in and refused to budge. He had been disappointed one too many times to fully let it go.

Tomoyo sighed and looked at his team and they stood at attention awaiting orders. "Mission parameters have changed. Threat level of mission has increased from C designation to a hard B with possible bogies bordering A. Mission directives haven't changed. Team Sargent Uzumaki." The said boy flinched at the military ton he was being directed with. "What is your opinion of course of action?"

Naruto held a brief debate with his inner personas as he closed his eyes to hide the shifting colors before opening them to the Cobalt blue his team had recognized as Mission Mode. "Although we were informed of political climate our team was entering into, the increased threat level is a matter of concern. Still, with the assets available to us, I believe we can still pull off our mission successfully. Although I think a call of reinforcements would be nice," He turned to Sakura who nodded in understanding and picked up where he left off, "-It just isn't viable use of recources. We are cleared for B-ranked missions with you sensei. Konoha will either force us to abandon the mission or make us force the client the increased pay for the mission." She sends a sympathetic look to Tazuna whose eyes glistened with unshed tears, not quite following the protocol but understanding the premise of it all. They were risking a lot so that the mission he lied about would get finished because they understood the gravity of his works and how it will impact his people.

Tomoyo nodded then looked to Sasuke. "What do you think is a good plan of action from here on out formation-wise?" Sasuke smothered his smirk at still being addressed for fighting, something he was glad he excelled at. With an almost but not quite apathetic tone, he stated clearly, "We will need to be constantly aware. We will need to stay close enough to fall back and protect the client but far enough away to not get caught in an ambush. Diamond formation as before but less breaks of formation and we need to set up camps securely and discretely. Until we have reached our destinations we need to assume any and everything is a hostile and act accordingly."

Tomoyo smiled and nodded. "Alright team, double time." They nodded and Tomoyo simply walked up to the smaller man and plucked him off the ground easily and put him on his back and said to him, "Hold on," before Tazuna held on for dear life as the hulking man of muscle shot off like a rocket forward.


End file.
